Morningstar Manor

Adam's conversation with Eris in the poolhouse had been tough, but, in its own way, it had been clarifying. There were some things he felt he understood better now that he'd had to face them directly and he lie awake, thinking about them, as he held Icene close.

He still had a few minutes before her alarm would go off and he enjoyed simply holding her in his arms quietly, simply because he could. He rubbed her cornsilk hair between his fingertips and stared at the ceiling, with a lilting smile on his face as he traced the cracks in the ceiling with his eyes.

He couldn't quite remember how they'd gotten there....

Adam had taken this, his last week at home, off. He intended on filling every day with all the things he loved so the experiences would be fresh in his memory as he went overseas and signed his life away to the military for four months.

Today he was up in the poolhouse, snoozing in the sun, lulled to sleep by the gentle lapping of the water and humming of the filters.

After a round of goodbyes, and spot of crying courtesy of his mother, Adam and Icene loaded their bags and climbed once more into the fire engine red truck (lovingly nicknamed Selma) to set off for home.

Driving, Adam's attention was on the road, and for a good solid ten minutes silence reigned in the cabin, then, when the truck paused at a red light, he glanced over at Icene.

"So...wanna run screaming yet?"

Curled up together in his wide bed, Adam and Icene were all set for bed...save of course for the way Adam was nibbling on the back of her neck and murmuring questions at her.

"So," he asked, nuzzling at her nair. "Did you get the time off?"

Adam had spent most of his working day today in briefing.

A long winded spiel about having all your ducks in a row and assuring the trustworthiness of those you were going to be leaving behind and in charge of the day-to-day affairs of your life. It had been boring, yes, but had reminded Adam that no, his ducks were in fact not all in a row. He still, in fact, had several important things to do.

Which was why as he crossed the Lobby this evening he was talking aloud to himself, mumbling a to-do list over and over in an effort to keep from forgetting before he could get upstairs and do something about it.

Number one on his list?

"Talk to the TA," he mumbled as he paused in front of the elevator and pushed the UP button.

First thing in the morning, as the business crowd was milling about in their snappy suits, a yawning Marine in his full dress uniform clicked his way across the Lobby, pulling on sharp white gloves and tucking the stiff brimmed hat under his arm as he crossed to Mocha and joined the queue.

This would probably be his only chance to eat or drink all day, he planned on making the best of it.

Celebrations were called for, and nothing said "celebrate" to Jazz like putting on her favorite bikini, fetching a couple of cold beers from the fridge and heading up to the poolhouse for some good ol' quality time with the hot tub.

The heated water felt good on her outsides while the cold beer felt great on her insides.

Who could ask for more?

~.~

Adam had been in the middle of a last minute BBQ planning session with Joe in the Mocha when his cell phone had started ringing. Now, some twenty minutes later, he was sitting at a table by himself, head propped up in his palm, ear pressed to the phone as he nodded and listened.

"Yes, Mom, I promise. I've already taken the time off." Pause. "I don't know, sometime in the morning probably."

Meanwhile, Joe waited in the queue. He'd tried to wait out the call, but he'd finished his coffee. Now he wanted more, and maybe a muffin too...one of the ones with the crumbly bits on top. Yeah, that sounded good.

His stomach gurgled, apparently agreeing.

Maybe he'd get two.

In all truth, Adam had forgotten all about calling maintenance (though he'd never admit it), and it was only as a result of Icene's gentle, off-handed reminding that Adam finally got around to making the all important call.

After all, what was a BBQ without a grill?

So after getting home from work he dug out the number and placed the call, idly popping the buttons on his uniform cuffs while he waited.

She'd pulled up at the gates and before they could even offer told them quite clearly not to call him. It was so hard to surprise him at work, but she was determined to do that at least once before he left. So much so that she wasn't even wearing her regular black jeans and boots outfit, but a deep green court suit and cream blouse, and some stupidly (for her) high black heels.

She parked up, and then headed back to the gatehouse to check her gun, since she knew damn well they weren't going to let her anywhere else with it still on her. That of course necessitated yet another round of asking them not to call Adam to let him know she was here, that she wanted to surprise him, and honestly, they had her gun, what did they think she was gonna do? Kiss him to death? The last got a laugh, and with some wolf whistles and applause Icene walked into the base to see if she could remember the way to Adam's office. Of course she could, and she was somehow able to walk along the corridor outside without her heels clacking on the floor, although she was glad nobody had seen her, tiptoeing in three inch heels, honestly!

She stood in the doorway, did he always leave the door open, and watched him for a minute, then she leaned against the door frame and smiled, "Well hello there, hard at work I see?"

The taxi had dropped her off at the main doors, but Icene left her bag in the lobby with security and ran down to the parking lot before going anywhere else. She figured if Adam's truck was there, she didn't need to go home, just to his place, and if he was still on exercise, then his truck wouldn't be there. It had made sense when she thought of it.

The truck was there, and she was grinning like mad when she picked up her bag and headed for the lifts in the lobby again. No third floor tonight, not for her. She didn't even bother to knock on his door, just used her key and let herself in, dropping her bag in the lounge and hunting for the one thing she'd missed above everything else over the last two weeks. He had to be here somewhere, right? She would have called out, but she wanted to surprise him if that was possible.

The Reyes-Brooks clan settled in at the massive table at apartment 8160-after they'd pried Emma off her books-to a hearty meal containing all the favorites. Per usual, Ang had gone overboard with the cooking, but after Gavin mashed several fist fulls of mashed potatoes into his hair it was agreed that all the extra effort had probably been a good idea.

~.~

After spending the morning working a shift that served the dual purpose of keeping her abreast of the news regarding the Mr. Michaels situation and keeping her out of her apartment while Jane would be cleaning, Jazz came home to her empty apartment with a bag of takeout and curled up on her couch. With the TV on, filling the quiet spaces with noise, she could almost believe she wasn't feeling particularly lonely.

~.~

He called his mother like always, listening like the good son while she gushed over the flowers that had he had had sent to her. But in the back of his mind, while he packed for the trip he'd be leaving for the very next morning, Adam was thinking about the other women in his life and how boring things were without them around. And how very much he was going to miss them when he left.

~.~

Absorbed with a new pet project, building a model replica of the U.S.S Constitution (a Christmas gift from Adam) Joe didn't stop to think about even everyday trivial things such as eating, let alone to stop to consider what significance this one particular Sunday might have.



(OOC: Meanwhile Mun is enjoying good food with great family and hoping Easter-or just Sunday for those who don't celebrate :)-is finding you just as well!)

They'd walked into the office like they owned the place, two almost identically dressed suits, neatly cut hair, shiny shoes, and both wearing those ridiculous sunglasses indoors. Feds, the word spread faster than they did and people made themselves scarce. Not Icene though, she had been the recipient of a barrage of emails this morning and although she had protested, claimed she was too busy, had a personal crisis, it had all boiled down to three words, "We want you."

And they were here to collect.

She sent the last, and most strongly worded protest email, closed her computer before they were even in her office, and then locked her desk before looking up, "Gentlemen, you will please be advised that I have to go home and collect a few things, don't even argue with me," the temperature dropped several degrees very sharply, "and you will be considerate and wait in the car. Got it?"

( Secondment to Hell )

Just before seven the birthday girl herself opened her apartment door and put up a sign on it saying,

Welcome!
but watch out for the cat

and a silly childish drawing of a cat on the side.

That was the last thing on the to-do list - everything was ready now for the party. The apartment was mostly lit with lots of candles in colorful small lanterns, there was a music mix with a big variety playing on the backround, and a separate cook in the kitchen. Yes - today Emily was dressed up properly to celebrate the big 30, and young Lucas also from La Fee with his tattooed arms and black clothes and an angry brow was taking care of the catering. He had done a spledid job - though it was no brainer that Emily had obviously helped and bossed the poor boy around. Like promised in the invitation, there was food enough to make a full four-course menu dinner for the guests, but served in a buffet in the kitchen.

More than that, there was also drinks. Emily kept an eye on the 19-year-old cook since the wines were stored in the kitchen - especially when his uncle was working and not attending the party, she needed to keep the young man in check.

When the first knock on the door sounded, Emily in her skirt and stylish blouse went to open it and welcomed her friends in.

[[OOC: Party post! Everyone welcome who thinks they should be here - Emily sent out the invites rather generously, so pop in if you feel like it. Mingle!]]

Icene woke up smiling, stretched slightly, yawned, then snuggled back into the warmth of Adam. It wasn't that she was cold, far from it, but it was just nice to snuggle of a morning. Especially when they were both usually up at silly o'clock for one or both of them to rush off to work and today they didn't have to. Oh yes, she was definitely catching Adam's habit of sleeping in at the weekends.

Some minutes later she realised she wasn't going back to sleep, and sighed a little, but peering around to look at the clock she realised why and grinned, it was lunchtime, surely he wouldn't have any objections to being woken up now? She snickered a little, wondering how best to wake him up, before settling on scattering little kisses across his skin.

Joe had already been waiting in the Mocha for a quarter of an hour when Adam finally turned up, grimacing and rubbing his shoulder ruefully as he plopped himself into the chair opposite his brother.

"How'd it go?" the elder asked without looking up from his crossword.

Adam wrenched off his over-shirt and pulled up the sleeve of his t-shirt so he could look down at his irksome shoulder. "I feel like a pincushion." He turned his arm toward Joe. "Does it look like it's bruising to you?"

Joe looked up, leveling a flat stare at Adam over the rim of his glasses.

"What?" Adam asked pointedly. "It hurts."

It was sacrilegious, down right sickening, Adam thought, to bring home work with him this close to his precious, precious weekend, but even he had to admit he couldn't keep putting this shit off. The paperwork would not fill itself out, the phone would not dial itself.

He settled himself at a corner table, quickly laying claim to entire surface with several packets of files, a check-list he returned to every few minutes, and his laptop-to which he'd jammed in his headphones so he might listen to last night's Daily Show while he waded through forms up his eyeballs and waited for the glorious moment when Joy would put out a fresh batch of cookies and he could take a break.

Adam had already pushed a dozen or so candles into the cake when he realized he had no idea what Icene's exact age really was. Somehow, she'd never told him, and he knew women well enough to know that asking was strictly forbidden.

His lips twitched thoughtfully as he studied the punctured cake. Should he remove the candles already in...Nooo. That'd leave holes and he didn't have anymore frosting to cover them up with. He eyed the leftover candles and decided just to put them all on, in some vaguely artistic pattern.

He finished just as the front door was opening.

In the evening, there was a ghost in the conservatory, in a corner behind tall ferns, playing with a deck of tarot cards.

"We totally don't need any more tall dark strangers here!" he murmured, turning around the next card.

He had got much better at manipulating physical matter since last year. If your mind ran that way, you might even not notice that he was a ghost.-


[[OOC: New Year Tarot Post, open to all and sundry -- see last year's post that I linked above! Open until it scrolls off your flist!]]

Jazz'd gotten to the point where she had to gear herself up to facing the mailbox.

Close your eyes, 1-2-3, deep breath....

She twisted the key and let the door pop open, letters falling into her open palm. One last fortifying breath and she opened her eyes and started flipping through.

Junk, junk, bill, junk, Cosmo, junk, junk...Oh! An official looking envelope stared up at her and for a moment she was at loss for what to do with it. She'd never really thought beyond the "arrival" point. Should she take it upstairs? Open it right here? Take it to Spencer?

Unsure, she fanned herself with the issue of Cosmo and tried to decide.

~*~

Home sweet home.

Adam stomped into the Manor via the front door, knocking snow from his boots. Over his shoulder was his ruck sack-soft noises were coming from the bag every time he moved-and jammed against his ear was his cell phone.

"Yes, Mom. Yes. I promise. Yes, really. Really, really."

He rolled his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his free hand as he moved toward the Mocha.

As he'd be leaving to spend the holiday with his folks that evening, Adam stopped before work and left his Christmas presents outside their respective doors.

( Icene )

( Emily )

( Eris )